Market Weighton Fire Station will keep both its vital engines

Market Weighton’s mayor has spoken of his delight as it is announced the town will keep both of its vital fire engines.

A decision was made at a meeting on Monday to allow Market Weighton Fire Station to keep both of its two engines.

With budget cuts looming, Humberside Fire Authority is looking to save £2.2 million by 2019/20.

The Cliffe Road Station was one of six which faced cuts and could have lost an engine.

Mayor of Market Weighton, Peter Hemmerman, said: “I’m absolutely delighted. I think it was the right decision. It was the biggest saving and that is what they are looking for.

“Market Weighton is an expanding town, we need these services.

“I think it’s not just the fire aspect but they attend a lot of traffic incidents on the roads. They need to get there quickly to save life, if we only had the one it could be dangerous.”

The options included potential changes to the number of fire engines at Immingham East, Immingham West, Market Weighton or Brough, Hornsea and Withernsea fire stations.

At the meeting, members approved the option to maintain both Immingham stations and reduce the number of fire engines in Immingham from three to two.

Both of the engine crews would be managed from Immingham East, with the engines then split between two stations as appropriate.

Members did not approve any of the options to remove fire engines from Brough, Market Weighton, Hornsea or Withernsea.

A public meeting was held at Market Weighton Fire Station in January to discuss the options available with deputy chief fire officer Chris Blacksell, Niall Mckiniry, director of emergency response, and Jason Kirby, emergency response manager.

The town turned out in support of the fire station and the meeting room was packed full of concerned residents.